Sunday, October 13, 2013

Salt and Secrets: Unbreakable

Unbreakable by Kami Garcia (The Legion #1)
LB Teen, 2013

*ARC Provided by the publisher at ALA 2013 - Thank You!*

Demon hunting meets The DaVinci Code in Unbreakable, the first book in The Legion series and first solo effort by Kami Garcia, co-author of the Beautiful Creatures series.

Kennedy loves her life in Washington DC, but everything changes the night she comes home to find her mother dead. Since her father left long ago, Kennedy prepares to move a boarding school in New York until a spirit tries to kill her in her childhood home the night before she's supposed to leave. Thankfully identical twins Jared and Lukas destroy it before it's too late and expose Kennedy to the truth: they believe that Kennedy's mother was a member of The Legion, an ancient secret society responsible for protecting the world from an evil demon, and now it is time for her to take her mom's place. What unfolds is a quest for a long missing weapon and an answer to seemingly impossible questions.

Garcia's novel hits the ground running and gives readers a little bit of everything: supernatural spirits, secret societies, action and adventure, and romance that comes in the form of a possible love triangle between a girl and identical twin brothers. Whew! At times it felt like a lot, and at other times the pacing was actually a bit stalled. It's a lot to be happening in a story that takes place over a very short period of time, the bulk of it spanning the course of a week, possibly less.

While this reads very much as a First Book in a Series story and that can be a bit tedious with so much setup required, I still liked it for the most part. Alara and Priest, the two other members of The Legion, were each well rounded and I was especially jealous of Priest's innovations and inventions. For people who like fast paced stories with plenty of paranormal intrigue who are also fans of Cassandra Clare's Mortal Instruments, they will probably be find a lot to love in this book. It could have just been the mood I was in when I read this, but to me this was a 'I'll check it out from the library' story rather than one I'll purchase - I'm interested enough that I'll check the sequel out in a year to see what happens next.

Comments welcome, and, as always, happy reading!

Kami Garcia's Website
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